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[Forum Admin]

Please report any problems here.

[still_studying]

For some reason, nearly every post in every thread shows up inside its own little scrollable window.  I'll try to attach two JPGs (lossless GIFs were too large, sorry) showing this (same post, just scrolled up and down).  ETA: well, that didn't work all that wonderfully, since in the thread, the right sides (including the scrollbars) of the images are clipped.  If you save them to your HD and view them with your favorite image viewer, though, the scrollbars are visible. ETA2: ok, nevermind, there's a side-to-side scrollbar at the bottom that lets you see the right edge. :/

These individual-post scrolling subwindow thingies capture the mouse scrollwheel events so that the whole topic doesn't scroll, only the individual post does (even after the individual post has scrolled to show its last line).  Since the total scroll distance is usually one line (sometimes none), this seems to be more of a forum-software bug than anything else.

Also, if you hit the "post" button, then cancel to add a bit more text, your keyboard doesn't work in the browser window any more unless you click the "reload page" button at the top.  (Might be browser-specific.)  My environment:  Mozilla 1.7.3, running on Knoppix 3.7.

BTW, are guest postings no longer allowed?  Are we suddenly going to be deprived of auto-insurance ads, links to exotic porn sites, and random comments about what a great blog this is?

[still_studying]

Another problem, this time I believe related to tabbed browsing.

If I open a bunch of threads in several tabs, then decide to log in to reply to one of the earlier ones, after logging in, the page that opens is the last (most recent) topic that was opened, not the topic to which I'm attempting to reply.

I'm going to hazard a guess that each topic, as it's opened, sets a cookie with its topic ID;  logging in accesses the cookie, which is the last topic instead of the topic of the page from which the login was done, so the system reloads that last topic instead of the "current" topic.  Of course, without looking at the source scripts, I could be completely in bizarro land on this guess.

[MelogKnaj]

This isn't exactly a serious issue but I have noticed some sluggishness on the forum, particularly when trying to respond to a thread. I click on the respond button and have to wait 5-10 seconds for the text box to show up. Are there any fixes for this per chance?

[Gag]

I like the Forum, it is very helpful.

I posted this in another topic, but I think this is the correct one !

The Software is good (I see it is used by other forums)

But I have a major problem at the moment.

I have had a personal message from a user. (this is OK), but I keep recieving emails informing me that I have had this personal message.

I get about 10 of them a day !

I have check all my settings in my user profile, and can find nothing untoward.

Any suggestions or fixes ? my ISP says it may be a problem with the exchange server ?

[Robert K S]

Was it just me or was this forum down for most of the first two weeks of August, 2009?  I can't find any mention of the outage in the forums or on the site.

[DogDayPM 9er9er9er]

Was it just me or was this forum down for most of the first two weeks of August, 2009?  I can't find any mention of the outage in the forums or on the site.

Nope, it wasn't just you.  I often had problems, but the few times I did try again an hour later, I was able to get in.  I've seen at least a 3rd person mention the same issue.

[bartmans]

I also had problems reaching the forum last week, and even a second (or further) attempt was useless.

[MYK]

Was it just me or was this forum down for most of the first two weeks of August, 2009?  I can't find any mention of the outage in the forums or on the site.

Nope, it wasn't just you.  I often had problems, but the few times I did try again an hour later, I was able to get in.  I've seen at least a 3rd person mention the same issue.

That was probably me.  I only found the forum to be up once, and that was for less than ten minutes.  Oh well, I needed a vacation.

[Kaitlin]

Am suddenly seeing ads under the headings at the top of the IP forum page which obscure the drop-down menus and make it very hard to navigate.  Is this something new that just needs web-cleanup, or might I have unwittingly undone some ad-blocker setting on my computer?  Thanks.

[JimIvey]

Interesting.  I have the same ads that stay on top problem on other sites, but not here.

FWIW, I use Linux (Kubuntu) and Firefox. 

Hmmm....  Interesting thought.....  This forum (SMF) is open source software, I believe.  I wonder if Microsoft did one of their tricks again.  They like to deviate from standards in hopes that developers will follow Microsoft's deviations (as the largest install base, typically) and will make other, standard-compliant competitors look broken.  I'll go out on a limb here and bet that Kaitlin is using MSFT's Internet Explorer and the ads on facebook don't block javascript popups in her browser.  My experience is the opposite -- ads don't block popups here but do on facebook.

Unfortunately, I don't have a solution for Microsoft's insistence on splitting accepted standards.

Having said all that, perhaps SMF will have a patch or update that will work properly on broken MSFT software as well as on good software.

Regards.

[Kaitlin]

Thanks for your thoughts Jim.

I'll go out on a limb here and bet that Kaitlin is using MSFT's Internet Explorer and the ads on facebook don't block javascript popups in her browser. 

Actually I avoid MS whenever reasonably feasible for a non-techy.*  Use Firefox for browser.  Only resort to IE when the website I want to use won't work properly with Firefox, or what I formerly used, Netscape.  (E.g. I don't know if this is still a problem, but the Pacer program for federal courts wouldn't function for me unless I used IE.)
Interesting, after leaving that post last night the problem was fixed this am.  The drop down menus now cover the ads (which are still there underneath--and frankly I'm not sure whether or not they were there all along.  I try to ignore such things).   Also, I started having trouble with the drop-down menus just prior to the ads taking over. 
The ads in question are banner ads, e.g. "ads by Google" and include a video ad for some law firm (which I'll never want to patronize since having their loud red logo screamed in my face).  I feel like the static ads have been there all along, but the screaming video (not literally audio screaming, just visually obnoxious) was new.

For an example, the current crop of ads at the top of this page include:

      Get Free Patent Info Kit
      Request Your Free Patent Kit Now. Get Real Success With Your Patent.
      www.InventionHome.com
and
      Patent Attorney/Engineer
      Over 36 years experience. Staff available 24/7 by phone.
      www.invention.net

Another ad with those two highlighted a firm in my locale, so I presume these are working with tracking cookies.  Have a hard time telling what cookies are necessary and which aren't.  Alas..... 

* Re MS: Am still upset that MS managed to get "windows" registered as a trademark.  Believe it should have been shot down as an existing generic term.  Was used at least as early as 1981 by an early CPM wordprocessing program called -- I believe -- Perfect Writer to refer to (guess what) "windows", which windows permitted you to view two different wordprocessing files simultaneously and toggle back and forth between them, as I recall.

[Kaitlin]

Hmm.  Now I have a new problem.  Noticed when trying to reply to Jim's post.  I currently can only respond to messages by using "quote" function as "reply" button doesn't appear.

[JimIvey]

I have no insights to offer re new issues -- cookies and the lack of a "reply" link.  My reply link shows up nicely.

* Re MS: Am still upset that MS managed to get "windows" registered as a trademark.  Believe it should have been shot down as an existing generic term.  Was used at least as early as 1981 by an early CPM wordprocessing program called -- I believe -- Perfect Writer to refer to (guess what) "windows", which windows permitted you to view two different wordprocessing files simultaneously and toggle back and forth between them, as I recall.

Yes, and I have computer graphics textbooks from the 1980s that explain exactly what a "window" is and used X Windows long before MSFT ever came up with the name.  In fact, I believe they named their new OS "Windows" precisely because it used windows like the Mac did at the time (and Xerox before that) -- an early example of the "We do it, too" approach of MSFT (newer examples include XML formats for MS Office, copying OpenOffice.org, and tabbed browsing, copying Netscape/Firefox).

In the 1990s, "Windows" conspicuously used "TM" rather than "(R)" for a long time.  I believe they eventually prevailed on "secondary meaning" grounds after many, many years.  They do the same aggressive crap with trademarks that they do with their software -- try to usurp standards.  See, e.g., MS "Word", MS "Money", MS "Office", etc.  Can I market a word processing program as "JDI Word"?  It's where you'd type words, right?  How about an office suite called "JDI Office" -- since, you know, it's an "office" suite?

Try to guess whether I represent MSFT.....  ;-)

Regards.

[Isaac]

I don't know the current state of things, but as I recall, Microsoft was none too pleased pleased with the resulting court rulings when they tried to assert "Windows" as a trademark against a "Lindows" mark in the US.  As I recall Microsoft ended up buying the Lindows mark after failing to get a preliminary injunction.